Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
In today's lesson, we continue on with basic etiquette. The French are extremely hospitable, and phrases of gratitude and those related are used at an extremely high frequency. During your travels in France, while you may not get the chance to use the French phrase for your welcome often, there is a very good chance you'll hear it.
GRAMMAR POINT
In French, "You're welcome" is De rien. De rien. Let's break it down by syllable: De ri-en. Now, let's hear it once again, De rien. The first word De, means "of." Let's hear it one more time, De. De, and De. This is followed by Rien, which in French is "nothing." Rien. Ri-en, and rien. So, altogether, we have de Rien. Literally, this means "of nothing," and is similar to the phrase "It's nothing!" in English.
Another way of responding to a phrase of gratitude is Je vous en prie, which means "You're welcome" in a more formal way than De rien. Je vous en prie. Let's break it down by syllable: Je vou-s en prie. Now, let's hear it once again, Je vous en prie.
The first word, Je, means "I." Let's hear it one more time, Je and Je. This is followed by vous, which in French is "you," or "to you." Vous. Vous, and vous. So, to recap here, we have Je vous. Literally, this means "I to you." Let's take a look at the next word, En, which means "of it." En and En. This is followed by Prie, which in French is something like pray. Prie. Prie, and prie. So, altogether, we have Je vous en prie. Literally, this means "I pray you of it," which is similar to "By all means;" and "Don't mention it."
The different ways to say "You're welcome" in French, very on context, and this can get a little complicated. However, if you stick to these two phrases, you will have your bases covered. Use De rien, in more informal settings such as between friends. And, Je vous en prie, in more formal settings such as in shops or on the street.

Outro

Okay. To close out today's lesson, we'd like for you to practice what we've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it out loud in French. You'll have just a few seconds before I give you the answer. So, bonne chance. That means "good luck" in French. Okay. Here we go.
"You're welcome."
De rien.
De rien.
De rien.
"You're welcome" as in "by all means."
Je vous en prie.
Je vous en prie.
Je vous en prie.
This is the end of today's lesson. See you soon. À bientôt!

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